The day after the Supreme Court ruled that parts of Texas’s abortion law, known as House Bill 2, was unconstitutional, the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) unveiled a revised version of the “Woman’s Right To Know” booklet — a document that physicians are required by law to give to women seeking an abortion that provides them with accurate information to help inform their decision.
DSHS states on its website that “[r]evisions to the booklet will be guided by peer-reviewed scientific and medical literature, resources from professional medical organizations, and government health sources.”
But rather than ensuring that the information in the booklet is based on the best scientific evidence, DSHS seems to have gone in the other direction.
There are few references to peer-reviewed medical articles in the document, and some of the articles that are referenced are out of date. Many of the statements contradict those of major medical organizations, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Medical Association.
Several of the statements in the “Woman’s Right To Know” booklet seem designed to confuse women, if not outright trick them. Take, for example, the information provided about the risk of death with abortion compared to the risk with continuing a pregnancy to term. Fortunately, dying is very rare after both events. But the best medical evidence—which was quoted in the Supreme Court ruling—indicates that death related to childbirth is at least twelve times more common than abortion-related death.